I’m assuming that, with the Auran Empire having a distinctly Greco-Roman flavor, most of its deities are drawn roughly from analogues in ANE historical pantheons. Some of these analogues seem obvious enough already that most of my first guesses would probably be close (e.g. Alex has already admitted that Ianna is Ishtar, as a combined war/fertility goddess), but I’d still like to see an authoritative answer.
IANAA and all that jazz, but the influences I see:
Ammonar - as mentioned in the Primer, Sol Invictus.
Calefa - Fortuna (although not Fortuna Annonaria, since she doesn’t have an agricultural concern)
Ianna - Ishtar/Inanna
Istreus - the Eyeless Seer makes me think of Wotan/Odin, while the ibis is traditionally a symbol of Thoth
Mityara - Hestia, greek goddess of hearth and family, fits a little better than Roman Vesta
Naurivius - I can’t think of a god of exploration, but Njordr would come close, being master of winds, able to calm water, and associated with seafaring (according to the Prose Edda)
Turas - Tyr is the obvious parallel
Which does explain why there’s a warhorse called Unconquered Sun stabled at the villa. That reference went over my head the first time through!
Here are some inspirations for each of the gods:
EMPYREAN
Ammonar: Ammon-Ra, Aion, Aryaman, Jupiter Optimus Maximus, Sol Invictus, Utu
Calefa: Anubis, Asteria, Cailleach, Fortuna, Hecate, Morrigan, Nepthys, Norns, Selene
Ianna: Andraste, Ashtara, Astarte, Athena, Bellona, Chandra, Inanna, Ishtar, Kedesh
Istreus: Hermes, Homer, Imhotep, Serapis, Taliesin, Thoth, Wotan
Mityara: Demeter, Ceres, Hestia, Seshat, Vesta
Naurivus: Dionysus, Nuadha, Njord, Nechtan, Nodens, Volturnus
Turas: Anhur, Indra, Horos, Honos, Nauda, Toutatis, Tyr, Thor, Virtus
CHTHONIC
Iskara: Apophis, Kali, Jormungand, Nyx, Set, Tiamat, Typhon
Dirgion: Ahriman, Arawn, Charon, Dahaka, Dahaga, Durga, Hades, Moloch, Nergal, Orcus
Kaleth: Chemosh, Kamish
Bel: Ares, Ba’al
Galmorm: Samael
Nasgar: Jezebel, Lilith, Loviatar, Usha
Ravanor: Rabisu, Ravanna, Resheph
Ornaron: Hadad, Marduk, Rapanor, Summanus, Taranis
Nargund: Fenrir, Geryon, Wepwawet
Lammala: Dagon, Olhydra, Yam
Telith: Gaia, Tailtiu, Tlachtga, Ogremach
However, the gods and goddesses of Auran Empire are syncretic so each of them represents many gods and goddesses, and the names and aspects of the deities vary across the realms.
In assigning the gods names, I have tried to achieve three simultaneous goals.
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The name for each god should sound like similar across each language. For instance, Ammonar is known as Eamon Arne (Argollean); Agmundr (Jutlandic); Ahuraman (Celdorean); Aryaman (Somirean); Imran (Opelenean); and Aranunn (Zaharan).
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The names for the collective of gods should sound appropriate to the language. For instance, the Auran pantheon is Ammonar, Calefa, Ianna, Istreus, Mityara, Naurivus, and Turas. The Jutlandic pantheon is Agmundr, Lifa, Hanna, Haster, Marya, Njord, and Tur. The Argollean pantheon is Eamon Arne, Cailleach, Aine, Taliesin, Demara, Nuadhain, and Tuireann.
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The name assigned to the god should be traceable to an underlying real-word god or hero, or at least thematically appropriate word.
Using the Argollean pantheon as an example:
Eamon Arne (AY-mon ARN): Eamon is an Irish name meaning “wealthy protector.” Arne is a Scandinavian name deriving from the Old Norse for “eagle”. .
Cailleach (KAL-y-ach): Cailleach was the Celtic crone goddess of winter.
Áine (AWN-ya): Áine was the Celtic goddess of summer and fertility. Áine is cognate with Anann, another name for the war-goddess Morrigan, and was thus associated with both war and fertility.
Taliesin (TAL-i-ess-in): Taliesin was the Celtic patron of druids, bards, and minstrels, associated with writing, poetry, wisdom, wizards, music, knowledge, and magic.
Demara (DE-mahr-aw): Demara was inspired by Damara, the Celtic goddess of peace, families, and young children.
Nuadhain (NEW-ath-ayn): Nuadhain was inspired by Nuada, the Irish king of the Tuatha De Danann.
Tuireann: Tuireann was an Irish god related to the Gaulish deity Taranis and the Scandinavian deity Thor.
Thanks, that was just what I was looking for. It helps to look up the real world inspirations in order to get a feel for the possible worldviews of priests or followers of a particular god, or to help with localization of elements from the Auran setting to a homebrew campaign.
I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the effort in maintaining linguistic consistency.
Glad it’s helpful. I enjoy that sort of deep worldbuilding even though most players will never notice it.